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Programme: accepted abstracts

Abstract ID: 318

Part of Session 130: Language in Multilingual Cities (Other abstracts in this session)

Situation of Foreign Languages in Chinese Metropolises: An analysis of the best available data

Authors: WEI, Rining (1); SU, Jinzhi (2)
Submitted by: WEI, Rining (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong S.A.R. (China))

In 2001, an unprecedentedly large-scale systematic national survey entitled “Survey of Language Situation in China” was completed. Some findings have been published by the Steering Group Office for Survey of Language Use in China (hereafter SGO, 2006). In-depth analyses of the survey data (e.g. Wei and Su, 2008; 2011), published in Chinese, are emerging. This report, as the first English-medium one in this series of papers arising from the in-depth analyses, aims to update the international academia about the foreign language situation in China based upon published and unpublished data from the survey.

This survey utilized a systematic probability sampling scheme (see SGO, 2006: 315-38 for technical reports). The representativeness of the sample render the findings generalizable to the whole population (SGO, 2006: 325), i.e. residents aged between 15-69 living in China excluding Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan (SGO, 2006: 299). The survey covered 165,000 households from 1,063 municipalities, districts and counties. It began in early 1997 and was coordinated by eleven ministerial-level governmental organs including the Ministry of Education, the National Language Commission, National Bureau of Statistics and China Social Science Academy.

This paper analyzes the self-reported data from the national survey concerning residents’ foreign language reading proficiency, spoken proficiency and frequency of foreign language use, with a focus upon seven metropolises including Beijing and Shanghai. It also examines the extent to which the general public in these metropolises supports using a foreign language as a medium of instruction in local primary and secondary schools. The results provide useful empirical data for profiling multilingualism in cities and shedding light on the grassroots support for Chinese-English bilingual education or Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), where English is used to teach part of the content matter of non-language subject(s).

References:

SGO (the Steering Group Office for Survey of Language Use in China) (2006) Zhongguo Yuyan Wenzi Shiyong Qingkuang Diaocha Ziliao [Findings and Documents of Survey of Language Situation in China]. Beijing: Yuwen Chubanshe [Language Press].

Wei, R. N. and Su, J. Z. (2008) Zhongguo neidi waiyu shiyong qingkuang diaocha fenxi [An analysis of foreign language use in the Chinese mainland]. Zhongguo Shehui Yuyanxue [The Journal of Chinese Sociolinguistics]. (2). 9-24.

Wei, R. N. & Su, J. H. (2011) Zhongguo dachengshi waiyu shiyong qingkuang diaocha fenxi [Foreign language use in Chinese metropolises: An analysis of evidence from a national survey with special reference to Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chongqing and Dalian]. Waiyu Jiaoxue yu Yanjiu [Foreign Language Teaching and Research]. 43(6). 924-933.